The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured $124,416 in penalties against the operator of a chain of sushi outlets for deliberately underpaying migrant workers in Canberra. The owner of the business ‘Sushi Bay Belconnen’ has been fined more than $20,000 and the company fined more than $100,000. The company admitted to underpaying 22 employees at Sushi
More on the new subclass 491 visa to start November 2019. It will be very similar to the existing 489 subclass. The main changes are a 5-year visa validity and new visa conditions requiring visa holders to live, work and study only in regional areas for three years. However, regional areas will now include Wollongong
The Significant Investor visa (SIV) (188c) is an initiative run by the Department of Home Affairs as part of their Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP). The SIV offers a four–year provisional visa with a pathway to permanent residency (subclass 888) for entrepreneurial and high net worth individuals (HNWIs) who invest at least $5 million
The Federal Circuit Court recently held that a sponsor’s threats to have their partner deported amounted to Family Violence behaviour and were grounds for a positive finding on the grant of a permanent visa to the applicant. “the threat by a sponsor to have the holder of a subclass 820 visa deported to his or
With the return of government at the recent election, it is now very likely the Department will introduce two skilled regional visas, subclass 494 and subclass 491. These new visa will come into effect from 16 November 2019. There are also new points allocation rules for subclass 491 visa as well as existing General Skilled
Federal Circuit Court has found Labour-Hire employer Ram Kumar exploited overseas workers on Australian farms. Ram Kumar has been penalised $17,000 and his Queensland labour-hire company, Seasonal Farm Services Pty Ltd, has been penalised a further $85,000. Kumar admitted his company had underpaid 144 employees a total of $60,780 between 2014 to 2015. His
In November 2016, legislation redefined the age limit of dependent children for certain visa types. The new definition is more restrictive on adult aged children. Rather than look at each situation on the facts in order to ascertain actual dependency, the government now apply a strict age rule of 23 years old. If you
During the last 12 months, the Immigration Department have increased the number of Student visa cancellations. The Department are using powers under section 116 to cancel student visas onshore, and using powers under section 128 to cancel offshore visas. Many such cancellations are unfair and unreasonable. Those that are, can successfully be challenged in
Australia has absorbed an estimated 10 million settlers since the First Fleet arrived in 1788. The majority of these settlers, some seven million, have come to Australia since 1945. The migration program has favoured skilled migrants over family reunion since 197–98. Over this century there have been 1,464,622 skilled migrant visas issued with 753,691 family stream visas. The
There are to be several beneficial changes for working holiday maker visa holders in 2017: The maximum age eligibility will increase to 35; There will be expanded work rights: Application fees to reduce; and A more beneficial taxation arrangement. This follows on from the exposing some employee abuse by parts of the agricultural
